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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 86: Marauder's Time
As the basilisk expired its last breath, James hurried to extinguish the silver flames that were consuming its skin and flesh.
"Kyu…"
He turned around at the sound of Primum crying for help. The quimera was laying on its side, with one of its wings clearly broken.
"Don't worry, I'll fix you as soon as I can. For the moment, you can return to sleep." James told the creature.
"Kyu." Primum lifted its head to look at him and waited.
"Yes, you did a great job." James knelt down next to Primum and palled its head.
"Kyu!." This one let out a happy sound in response.
"Okay okay…go to sleep. I'll let you out as soon as I have this place cleaned up a bit." James transformed the camera back to its ring form and placed it on his finger.
He then turned to check the state of the basilisk. "Tsk…at least half the skin will be unusable." He lamented at seeing the damage caused by his fire spell.
It was unfortunate, but there was no way around it. Killing a creature such as this without causing any significant damage to its body would have required a lot of preparation…something he hasn't had time for.
No, this was his own fault. He came unprepared and awoken the snake prematurely.
"What's done it's done."
James spent a few more minutes observing the state of the fallen monster.
Luckily, the eyes were in perfect condition, as well as the fangs, and the the internal organs. The heart is the most important one.
Overall, James knew that he couldn't complain too much. If he sold the entire corpse as it was to the goblins, he would get a small fortune. But he had other plans for it. He could always sell what he didn't need afterward.
"It's going to take me a while to process all these ingredients. " He has not forgotten the fact that he had made an absolute mess in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom while opening the entrance.
Fixing that should be his first priority. If he left it as it was, someone could find out.
As a magical creature, the basilisk corpse would stay fresh for days without any issues. He could come back tomorrow and begin processing the ingredients and storing them in sealed containers for conservation.
He also needed to create an alternative entrance to reach the chamber. He didn't want to keep going into the girl's bathroom and dealing with that annoying ghost all year.
Once that was over, he would need to properly set the the laboratory in the chamber, and create a delivery path for the owls to come and go without being seen by the professors or the Headmaster. That was going to be tough.
"There is so much to do…" James was growing exhausted just by thinking about it.
Setting up this lab was going to be a lot of work, but the materials from the basilisk alone should make it worth his time.
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The next week passed quickly. James spent most of his free time, setting everything up while his friends worked on something else.
Apparently, Remus needed some help with his magical map, the one that James knew, later on, would be known as the 'Marauder's Map'.
The project was still in its infancy stages, and Remus needed help mapping the castle properly.
Something that was quite difficult, due to the constantly changing nature of the magical structure. Not to mention the amount of secret rooms and passages.
James promised to join them later on. By the coming week, he predicted to have some more free time since the lab should be done by then.
But before that, the Marauders had something else to do.
Another night of full moon had arrived and it was time for Remus to spend the night at the Shrieking Shack.
However, they were excited for this one.
Not only had Remus the wolfbane potion that allowed him full control of his wolf side, but now, Sirius, Peter, and James had officially become animagus and could accompany their friend during his transformation.
"This is going to be awesome!" Sirius said with excitement.
The four friends were currently waiting in the basement of the shack.
They had decided to leave through the tree secret entrance, instead of using the front door like last time.
That day, Remus was forced to repair the door after they broke the boards to leave the house. But that was just an inconvenience. The real problem was that the front door could be seen from the path that leads to Hogsmeade.
The chances of being spotted leaving the house were too big. And they should not take those risks if they could help it.
"Do we have to go to the forest thought? We could stay inside the house."
Peter suggested. Unlike his friends, his animagus form was that of a tiny brown rat. And the forest was filled with dangerous creatures.
Not to mention it was very difficult for him to keep up with their speed.
"You could come with me, Peter," James suggested. "You can hold onto my back as we run."
"Really?!." Peter seems to like the suggestion.
"By the way, James. Have you done any research about that white deer that you turn into?. It didnt seem like a normal one." Sirius asked. They had all been curious about it since they first saw it.
Sirius and Peter's transformation appear to be common animals. A dog and a rat. But they felt like James' animal, was a magical variant.
"It's a stag, not a deer." James corrected.
"I don't think there is much difference, isn't it?." Peter asked.
"Well, no matter. And no…I have been very busy this week, so I haven't had the time to do any research. The only thing that I know for sure is that the species is most definitely, a magical creature variant." James said.
"How can you be so sure?. It could be something like an albino stag or something." Remus asked curiously. Magical variants were something unheard of for animagus. At least as far as they knew. It wasn't like Hogwarts had much information on those types of magic.
"Well…the first time I transformed, I had to adjust myself to the completely different type of magic that the white stag used. But it also came with the knowledge of how to use it." James explained.
"Is that why you had so much difficulty to change?." Peter asked.
"Wait…you can use magic while transformed?." Sirius asked with interest.
"What can you do?." Remus also was very eager to know more.
" It would be best to see it by yourself instead of me explaining it. Why don't I show you tonight?. " James suggested.
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